Hidden Secrets
by liliesandroses54
Summary: Secrets are sometimes better as secrets. Neal hasn't seen his sister in years, he never talks about her and not one but Mozzie even knows he has family. But when Maureen comes to New York, and is framed for murder secrets come out that never should. OC.
1. Chapter 1

*A/N: Just doing some grammar editing.

**Chapter 1**

Maureen Caffrey walked tiredly into her Seattle apartment and threw her bag on the couch. It had been a long week in D.C. and all she wanted to do was sleep. But before Maureen got even close to her room there was a knock on her door.

She groaned and moved back towards it. When it swung open Maureen had to suppress another groan when she saw her neighbor, Ned, standing there. Ned was one of those neighbors that was always into everyone's business, and he looked like the creep from Ghostbusters. "Hi, Ned." Maureen said exasperated.

"Hi, Maureen. I noticed that you had just gotten back, so I took the liberty of getting your mail for you..." Ned rambled on and on, but Maureen had zoned out.

She only snapping out of it when he stopped talking. She swiftly took the small stack of envelopes from Ned's hand. "Thanks Ned." Maureen said quickly, closing the door before he could say anything else. She shook her head and thought about how creepy Ned was as she went through her mail. It was mostly junk, with the exception of a postcard from New York.

Smiling Maureen flipped it over and saw just one word written, "Marco." That one word made Maureen smile even wider. She then rushed into her room and started packing. It had been years since she'd last seen her brother and he should be out of prison by now.

It only took a few phone calls on the way to the airport to find her brother and talk to the buyer of her recently acquired necklace. On the plane ride to New York Maureen got her much needed sleep. It was about noon by the time she hailed a cab at the JFK airport.

Maureen had about an hour before she needed to meet her client, so she decided to scope out the meeting place. She isn't a very trusting person, so Maureen had to make sure that no surprises were waiting for her.

The small park was a perfect place. There were few trees and many people, nowhere to hide and enough people for her to escape in to a crowd. After making sure no unwanted guests were around Maureen pulled out a magazine.

On the cover it depicted a beautiful Faberge egg. Quickly flipping through to the article Maureen read. When she had finished she already had a plan on how to get it. Her employer would be extremely pleased. "Excuse me." A voice toned, interrupting her thoughts.

Maureen put on a fake smile and wiped her long, black hair out of her ice green eyes. "How can I help you?" she asked the very jumpy man in front of her.

He was about medium height, had blond hair, and very nervous brown eyes. The man matched the picture Maureen had of her buyer, but we was extremely nervous, which put Maureen on edge. "Are you Raven?" The man asked turning to look over his shoulder.

Maureen looked over discreetly and saw what was clearly a van used for surveillance. '_Shit, F.B.I.'_ she thought.

* * *

And Maureen was right; inside the van four agents were watching and listening to the conversation taking place. One of these agents was Peter Burke. Burke was mentally cursing himself for the informant being so obvious.

Sitting on the park bench totally aware that her client was wired Maureen sighed inaudibly. She wasn't getting paid today. "Nope, sorry, I'm Beth. What's your name, sweetie?" Maureen lied, her fake smile still in place.

The man seemed surprised by her response, but quickly recovered. With a smile he replied, "Snow, Roger Snow. What's a pretty girl like you doing here all alone?"

_'Wow, this guy really was an idiot.'_ Maureen thought viciously. She hated being scammed out of a pay day, especially by a moron. The people in the van were thinking about how much of an idiot Roger was too, and they wanted him to move on to another prospective mark across the park.

"I'm actually waiting for a friend, but it looks like he is a no show. Oh well, it was nice talking to you Roger." Maureen said, while standing up. She wanted to get out of here as fast as she could. She snatched her bag and made to leave, but Roger stopped her by grabbing her wrist.

"Hey Beth, can I have your number?" He asked. This caused a collective groan to go through everyone in the van. This guy really was an idiot.

Maureen gave a tight lipped smile, "Sure you got a pen?" after quickly writing down an obliviously fake number on her magazine, handed it to him, and left.

* * *

Roger and the F.B.I spent another 2 hours at the park, before Burke finally called it quits. "Raven is a no show guys. Let's call it a day, Roger get back here." Peter ordered.

Roger had a dreamy expression on his face as he climbed into the van. "Did you see her, guys?" He asked in an equally dreamy voice.

"See who, Snow?" Jones asked. "You talked to about 20 women today."

"Beth, of course, I can't wait to call her." Roger exclaimed pulling out the magazine.

Burke saw the cover, where 'Beth' had written her number. "Ummm, Roger, I don't think you'll reach her. "

"Why not?" Roger asked, deflating a lot.

"Because I don't think her number is 123-4567." Burke answered.

Roger looked down at the number, crestfallen to see that Burke was right. But before he could mope for too long his phone rang. The agents perceiving who the call was from started tracing it. With a nod from Burke, Roger answered. "Hello?" He asked shakily.

"Tisk, tisk, Roger" Maureen replied from a pay phone across town. "It was very naughty of you to bring the F.B.I to our little get together. I'm hurt." The agents sent worried looks to each other, but didn't speak as Maureen continued. "Unfortunately for you Roger I don't give second chances. I'll just have to sell my treasure somewhere else; we are officially through with any and all interactions. I hope your F.B.I agents have a lock on my position, because it's time to say good-bye. And next time, tell them to check the surrounding buildings for cameras, they were very easy to spot."

Burke rolled his hand to signal Roger to keep talking, that they needed more time. "Raven, listen…" He began, but was cut off by Maureen saying, "Byeeeeee," in a sing song voice.

"Damn it!" Burke exclaimed taking off his head phones. The trace only told them that the caller was on the east side of town.

Meanwhile Maureen was getting a cab and heading towards the nearest hotel. She would go to see Neal tomorrow.

**Chapter 2**

"I'm not kidding Neal. This Raven is good; I mean really good, maybe even better than you good." An exhausted Burke informed Neal Caffrey.

"Well then it'll only take you at least another 3 years to catch her." Neal replied looking at the case file. "Hmmm, she goes after some pricey stuff. That necklace alone is worth $30 million. I mean of all the diamonds in the Smithsonian this girl had to go for the Victoria-Transvaal Diamond."

"I know if we don't find it soon we're screwed." Burke replied, plopping into a nearby chair. "Governments don't take it too lightly when their 112.89 carat diamond necklace is stolen."

"What's going to happen to Snow? That guy is not prison material." Neal asked as Jones walked into the room.

"We just got a call. Apparently Snow was just found in the park where the meeting was supposed to happen. He has some minor scratches and the word "nark" written all over him. He was drugged and doesn't remember a thing, so there is no way to found out who it was." Jones reported, handing a photo to Peter.

He gave a slight smile and passed it over to Neal. "Remind me never to piss her off."

Neal had to agree with him. On Snow's forehead was the word "NARK" in big, bold, black letters. His face also had nark written across his nose, cheeks, ears, neck, and that was all Neal could see from the close up picture. He counted at least 30 narks in those areas alone; he couldn't even imagine how many others there were. The handwriting also looked vaguely familiar, but Neal couldn't place where from.

"That's not all." Jones said pulling out another photo. It was almost exactly the same as the first, except that Snow's face was empty of all narks, but one.

"She tattooed it on his forehead?" Peter asked in total shock.

"Yep, never piss this one off." Neal said while leaning back in his chair.

"The others were Sharpie® marker and came off with some scrubbing, but that one is tattooed on with ink." Jones explained taking a seat. "So what now, boss? Raven could have sold the necklace or left the country by now."

Peter got up and moved over to the window. "No she wouldn't have left, not yet. She came to New York for a reason. The necklace could have easily been shipped and the money transferred. It would have been much neater than this. " He started pacing back and forth as Neal and Jones watched him think. "Raven came here for a reason, but what? Visit friends or family, everyone has someone. Research a new mark, or meet a new client? Steal something else, but if so what?" Peter rambled, failing to notice Neal trying to get his attention.

"Peter!" Neal finally yelled, gaining Peter's attention at last. Smiling Neal held up the magazine he had been flipping through carelessly earlier. "I think I know what she's after." He said pointing to the jeweled egg on the cover. Burke stopped pacing and smirked victoriously.

* * *

Maureen stood outside an expensive looking building on Park Avenue. Of course leave it to Neal to get out of prison and immediately get a place like this. She walked up to the door and rang the bell. A few moments later a tall woman opened the door, carrying a dog. "Hello. How can I help you?"

Maureen was stunned a moment, but quickly put on a blank face. She had been expecting Neal or even Kate to answer. "I'm sorry, I think I must have the wrong address. There isn't anyone here named Neal Caffrey is there?" Maureen asked apologetically.

The woman smiled, "There is, you just missed him actually. He left with agent Burke about half an hour ago. I'm June, this is my home, but Neal lives in the apartment upstairs, would you like to come in?"

Maureen smiled, this lady was very smart and friendly she could see why Neal lived here. "No, that's fine. Thank you though. Who is agent Burke?"

"Oh, he is Neal's F.B.I partner. Are you sure you don't want to come in, it's quite cold out and it would be a much better place to wait for Neal to return."

"Thank you, but I really have to go, my plane leaves soon and I just wanted to say hi before I left. I'm sorry for the trouble." Maureen replied, backing away slowly.

June stared at the girl concerned. She had seen the varying range of emotions on her face when she mentioned Neal working with the F.B.I. Anger, hurt, betrayal, sadness, and many more, before the mask was back. "Are you alright dear?"

Maureen smiled and nodded. "I'm fine. Thank you again for your time." Then she was off down the street. June watched her go and made a mental note to talk to Neal about this young woman, who looked a lot like him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 3**

"Peter!" Jones called from the conference room, Peter and Neal quickly rushed in. "We've had a silent alarm tripped at the Met."

"What it's just after 4 in the afternoon, why is she moving in this early?" Lauren asked shocked, while staring at the computer screen.

"That'll be one of the first questions I ask her. Now come on let's move." Peter ordered, rushing back out the door. It took 10 minutes for the convoy of F.B.I vehicles to make it to the museum. They all surrounded the building and waited for the order to storm in.

But before Peter gave the order a voice over the radio crackled. "We got her, Burke."

"Good, bring her around to the car." Peter relayed back with a smug smirk on his face. Then he turned towards Neal, "Guess I didn't need those extra 3 years after all." Peter then walked away with an extra bounce in his step.

Neal groaned, "Are we going to have to deal with him like that the entire ride back?"

"You should have seen him after we caught you." Jones said before also heading to the car. Neal sighed and then went after him. He wanted to see what Raven looked like, someone had to be pretty messed up to tattoo the word nark on someone's face.

It was a tad surprising then to see a teenager sitting in the car, next to Jones. She was scary calm, just sitting there staring out the window. She wasn't even fidgeting or shaking, just sitting there staring. The entire ride to the Bureau Peter tried to get her to talk, but the black haired girl just sat there not moving. She didn't even spare him a glance of annoyance.

Peter was very irritated by her silence and disappeared for a few moments after returning to the building. While he was gone Jones put the girl in an interview room. Jones also tried to her to talk for an hour, but he had about as much success as Peter did.

"3 hours! We've had that girl for 3 hours and she hasn't spoken a word!" Peter ranted, pacing around the conference room. "You find anything on her Jones?"

"No, nothing. Plus we can't even confirm that it is her, Snow was drugged out of his mind so he doesn't know who attacked him and she hasn't spoken, so we can't compare her voice to the voice from the call." Jones replied in a huff.

Lauren entered with a tired expression on her face. "An hour. I was in there an hour not even talking about the case, and she still didn't speak. She did glare at me for a second though, so I count that as a small victory."

Neal gave a loud, fake sigh and stood up. "Never send a fed to do a thief's job." He then walked out of the room and down the hall. Peter quickly followed after him.

Neal slipped into the seat across from the young girl. "Hello, I'm Neal Caffrey and you are?"

* * *

She smiled at his attempt to question her; she thought it was almost as amusing as the other's attempts. Except for the lady fed, that was hysterical to listen to her try to 'girl talk.' The girl had also heard stories about The Neal Caffrey. She opened her mouth to speak as Peter walked in. "What time is it?"

Peter wasn't all that shocked that Neal had gotten her to speak; he was use to him doing slightly impossible things. The girl's voice was quiet and shy, but also strong and calm all at the same time. Neal smiled victoriously and looked at his watch. "7:45." He announced.

The girl gave a small smile and held out her hand to Neal. "Nice to meet you Mr. Caffrey, I'm a big fan of your alleged works."

Neal shook her hand. "Call me Neal, and Miss Raven I have to admit that I admire your work." He said with a charming smile.

The girl covered her mouth with her hand and giggle. Both, Neal and Peter shot each other confused looks. "What's so funny, Raven?" Peter half-barked.

Her giggles died almost immediately, but a smile was still evident on the girl's face. "I'm not Raven, silly." She said, her voice full of admiration. "I have nowhere near her skill. She is a legend in my house. I was thrilled when she sought me out to help her with a job."

"What job?" Peter asked moving closer towards the door.

"It's quite brilliant actually. I was supposed to get caught this afternoon. She said not to say a word until after 7:30, then to tell you her master plan." The girl explained.

"Which is?" Peter asked anxiously, he had a bad feeling about all this.

"To lift some of the security measures from the egg. Because we'll think that we have Raven, but she'll just steal it while we're here with the decoy. Isn't that right?" Neal explained for her.

"Ding, ding we have a winner. Raven wanted you to know her plan, so you have no questions about how she did it later. My name is Mina by the way. Raven said I needed to keep you all distracted for a few hours. I guess it worked." Mina then sat back in her chair and watched with an amused smile as Peter and Neal ran out of the room.

Peter called Jones, "Jones, that's not Raven, she's just a decoy. The real one is still going after the egg and is most likely already at the Met."

"Meet you there, boss." He replied, before hanging up.

* * *

It took 15 minutes to reach the museum and have agents surrounding it. While the F.B.I was scrambling around outside Maureen was inside. She was crawling around in the air vents, trying to find the correct room. Sadly getting in had taken longer then she had originally thought it would.

The Winter Egg was supposed to be left in the exhibit room for the gala taking place that night. This was basically the only time that the egg was vulnerable and Maureen had to act quickly. She knew that at any moment the feds would be bursting in.

A minute later Maureen had the correct room and was lowering herself down. It was a good 20 feet down and she had to remain in the air to avoid setting off the pressure sensitive floors. Maureen stopped a moment to stare at this piece in front of her. The egg was made out of crystal, platinum, diamonds, and moonstone. It is a beautiful egg perched on top of what was carved to look like ice.

The next part of the plan was the tricky part. Maureen had to some how get through the 2-inch bullet proof, pressure sensitive glass. If she didn't do this exactly right the alarms would sound, and the egg would be lowered into the vault.

As Maureen began cutting Peter, Neal, and about 10 other agents breeched the museum. They quickly made their way down to the vault, thinking that the egg and Maureen were there. Half way down the stairs though Neal remembered about the gala tonight. Which meant that the egg wouldn't be in the vault, but in the show room.

Neal tried to get Peter's attention, but he was too far ahead of Neal. Knowing that Peter would soon be after him, Neal ran back up the stairs. He reached the doors to the showroom as the agents were getting the vault door open, and as Maureen was placing the perfectly cut glass circle on top of the glass box.

There was now a giant hole in the side of the glass box. With a smile Maureen reached in, to grab the egg. But as she had her gloved hand wrapped around it, BANG!

* * *

The doors to the showroom burst open and Neal calmly walked in. Although the second he took his first step in the alarm sounded. Maureen hurriedly withdrew her hand as a metal box closed around the egg. Any hesitation on her part and her hand would have joined the egg in the vault. "Damn it!" Maureen swore as stared at the door. The only thing she could make out in the sudden darkness of the room was a man's silhouette in the door.

Neal heard the quiet curse and tried to pin point where it had come from in the room. As he strained his eyes bars came crashing down behind him. They blocked the only exit out of the room, except for the vents.

Maureen stared at the bars for a moment, before starting to climb. She had barely moved, before the alarm sounded. It was a high ear-shattering whine. Both Neal and Maureen had to cover their ears.

Then the extremely bright lights came on, momentarily blinding the two. Neal was the first to get his bearings back. The first thing he noticed was a young woman hanging from a rope about two feet over the glass egg case. She was short, about 5'4 and had long black hair tied up in a ponytail. This thief looked vaguely familiar, but Neal couldn't place from where. That was until she opened her eyes. Ice green stared into ice blue, "Maureen?" Neal choked out.

**Chapter 4**

Maureen couldn't hear what he was saying, but she could read lips. She smiled and nodded shocked, which caused Neal to smile back. To Maureen he didn't look that different, a little older and he had grown into his height, but he was still her older brother. Neal started to move forward, but a new noise caused him to stop. That and the look on Maureen's face as she started to climb again.

Neal quickly spun around and saw Peter standing there pointing his gun at Maureen. The SWAT team was trying to lift the bars keeping them out of the room. Maureen was almost to the air duct when Peter shouted, "Freeze!"

Maureen just smiled, gave him the finger and kept climbing, Peter fired a warning shot that grazed Maureen's arm. She let out a short cry of pain; getting shot was not something Maureen was use to.

But by this time she was at the opening to the duct. Peter aimed again, but Neal stepped in front of him. Peter tried to get around him, but Neal kept moving. Peter let out a frustrated sigh as Maureen's shoes disappeared from view, inside the duct.

"Damn it, Neal! Raven got away, AGAIN! Will someone turn off that damn alarm?" Peter shouted extremely pissed. A couple seconds later the alarm was off and the bars had been raised enough for Neal to slip under.

The other people around avoided Peter like the plague. Rightfully so too, he was fuming and mumbling under his breathe. When Neal had gotten into the main hall, Peter grabbed his elbow and led him outside.

* * *

Down the street Maureen was also fuming. She had failed to get the egg, her employer would not be happy. Neal was not supposed to be there, and the feds weren't supposed to be there that early. If Maureen had known that Neal would be working the case she would have told Mina to be silent longer. Grr, her arm hurt, but the bleeding had gone down a bit. She couldn't believe that agent had actually shot her.

With a sigh Maureen pulled out her phone and started dialing. She was dreading having to report her failure. The phone rang and rang, but on the fifth ring someone picked up. "Do you have it?" The voice asked straight away.

Taking a deep breath Maureen answered. "No. The feds were there and one tripped the alarm. So…"

But the voice cut her off. "I don't want to hear excuses, I want results. We will discuss this in depth tonight, meet me at the docks at midnight."

Then the line went dead. "Great, just what I need. A late night meeting with a psycho." Maureen mumbled to herself as she walked into her hotel.

* * *

As Maureen was packing, Peter was lecturing Neal. "You do realize you could go back to prison for this right, Neal?" Neal shot a quick glance at him and then proceeded to stare out the window. Peter groaned at his lack of response and slumped into his chair. "We're just lucky she didn't make off with the egg. Then we really would've been screwed."

Neal nodded distractedly and continued staring out the window. Jones then came into the room with a folder in his hand. "Hey, there were no prints anywhere in that museum,"

"Didn't expect there to be." Peter cut in, looking at the folder in Jones's hands.

Jones gave a slight smile before passing the folder to Peter. "But we did get DNA from the blood we found. You'll never guess who it's a partial match to."

Peter looked in the folder and then up at Jones, and finally over to Neal, "Neal Caffrey."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 5

Peter and Jones stared at Neal in a questioning way. Neal just shrugged his shoulders, and continued to stare out the window. "Surprise, I have a sister." He then chose to look over at the stunned look on Peter's face and burst out laughing. "You know my shoe size, but you have no clue I have a sister." He managed to choke out, before collapsing into another fit of laughter.

This comment caused Jones to start laughing too. Peter waited impatiently until the two had calmed down, before he began with the questions. "Raven is your sister? How come you didn't say anything earlier?"

Neal sat up straighter in his chair. "I guess so, but I never really pictured her as one to have an alias. I didn't say anything earlier, because I didn't know. I haven't seen her in at least 6 years."

Peter shook his head and looked over at Jones. "Find out everything you can about her." He ordered.

Jones took off towards the door, but turned around before leaving. "What's her name?"

Peter turned to Neal, expecting him to answer the question right away. But Neal avoided his gaze and looked back out the window. "You won't find anything, she is a ghost. My sister never uses her real name and if she does she keeps those things extremely close."

"Her name, Neal?" Peter barked, getting annoyed with his lack of cooperation.

Neal sighed and looked Peter in the eye. "You won't find anything past junior high, so just drop it."

"Her name?" Peter asked again, getting more and more frustrated with each passing second.

Neal could see he wasn't going to drop this. With a sigh he answered, "Maureen."

With a nod Jones left and Neal got up and started towards the door, but Peter stopped him. "Why are you protecting her, Neal? Like you said, you haven't seen her in 6+ years."

Neal looked down to the F.B.I bullpen and felt a small, sad smile form. With Maureen so close and on the run, he couldn't help but feel like a caged animal. "Blood is thicker than water, Peter. I wasn't there to protect her then, but I can make up for it now."

Peter stared at his friend's back, with a confused and shocked expression, "What happened?"

Neal turned his head to look over his shoulder at him. "I don't know, she never would tell me." And with that he turned back around and left.

* * *

Maureen slowly walked towards the docks, pulling her jacket to her tighter. It pulled slightly at her gunshot wound, but she quickly brushed it off as a chill ran up her spine. It was cold out tonight and it put Maureen on edge a bit. "Hello? Is anyone there?" She called, but there was no response. _"Great, being out, alone, in the dark, at night, that so doesn't scream, come kill me." _Maureen grumbled to herself.

That's when a streetlight suddenly came on to Maureen's left. She quickly spun around and spied a man standing there. _CREEPY! _All of Maureen's sense told her to turn and run as fast as she could, but her feet wouldn't listen.

"Miss Caffrey, this way please." The man stated, before turning to walk away. Maureen was shocked a moment at hearing her real name, but she hurried after the man. Most people involved with this line of work normally just knew her as Raven. So it was a bit of a surprise that someone knew who she actually was.

The man led her to a warehouse and disappeared inside. Maureen hesitated a moment, before also heading in. It was completely dark and empty, save one lone light that shone down on someone lying on the ground.

Maureen moved closer to the figure lying there motionless. The closer she got, the more about the figure Maureen discovered. First it was a girl, second she had long black hair that was spread out around her. It struck Maureen as odd that this girl looked a lot like her.

Maureen gasped as she saw the steadily growing pool of blood and because she recognized her. "Mina!" She exclaimed as she dropped to her knees next to the injured girl. She gently turned Mina over, so that she was lying on her back.

That's when Maureen saw the two bullet holes, surrounded by blood in Mina's stomach. She applied pressure to the wounds, which caused Mina to groan in pain and her eyes to flutter open. "Owww." She moaned.

Maureen smiled down at her it was nothing short of a miracle that Mina was still alive. "Hey, sweetie, I'm going to need you to stay perfectly still for me, ok?"

Mina just nodded and brought her own hands down to her stomach. She then brought them up to her face. The sight of her now blood soaked hands caused tears to slowly trickle out of her eyes. "I'm gonna die, aren't I Miss Raven?" She choked out, staring at Maureen desperately.

Maureen took one hand and gently pushed back the hair from Mina's eyes. "Not if I have anything to say about it. We're going to get you some help and please, sweetie, call me Maureen."

Mina just smiled, nodded and reached up to cup Maureen's cheek. "Thank you, for everything."

"Aww, now isn't this just sweet." A voice called from the shadows.

Maureen turned to glare at where the voice had come from. But this slight distraction was enough to cause Mina to fade even more. Her hand slipped from Maureen's cheek and left a trail of blood. Even with Maureen's best efforts, the puddle of blood kept growing. "Why her? I'm the one that screwed up, why didn't you kill me?"

The man came into the light and stared down unfeeling at Mina's body. He was very tall, dark hair and had almost, black uncaring eyes. "Because she couldn't get me what I want. You still can, think of her death as an incentive to get the job done. Or otherwise next time it'll be that brother of yours on the floor, surrounded by his own blood."

Maureen turned from Mina's body to stare at him. For the first time in years there was genuine fear in her eyes. The mysterious man appeared to enjoy this, for he smiled and started to back away. "I'd leave now Miss Caffrey. The authorities are on the way. Call me when you have the egg." He said before disappearing again into the shadows.

Maureen looked down at Mina. It appeared that she was just sleeping, but Maureen knew better. "I'm so sorry." She cried into the poor girl's hair, before kissing her forehead. She could hear sirens in the distance as she left the warehouse.

**Chapter 6**

Neal angrily got out of bed and walked into the kitchen. He couldn't sleep even though it was well after one in the morning. Neal walked around the apartment; he just couldn't turn his mind off. He kept replaying his earlier conversation with June over and over again, as he went over by the window and looked out.

* * *

_It had been late when Neal got back to the house. He had to move quietly so not to wake June. She is a very light sleeper and went to bed early. So it was shock when no more than 5 steps inside that June flicked on a lamp in the living room. Neal quickly recovered though and sent her a weary smile. "Evening, June. Waiting in the dark, very devious, Byron teach you how to do it just right?"_

_June smiled back, but it wasn't as amused as it normally would have been at the remark. Her face was filled with concern; she cut to the chase right away, offering no pleasantries. "A young woman stopped by today, Neal. She was short, had ice green eyes, and long black hair the same shade as yours. Does she ring any bells?" Neal opened his mouth to speak, but quickly shut it again. When no words came out, June continued on, "She was looking for you, and it came as a great shock to her when I told her you worked for the Bureau. That girl left here in quite a hurry after that, anything to say now?"_

_With a sigh Neal lowered himself into the seat across from her. "She really came here, when?"_

"_About half past 7 this morning, not long after you left." June answered then looked closely at the exhausted conman across from her. "Who is she, Neal? She looked a lot like you." She said in a gentle voice._

_Neal smiled and mentally rolled his eyes at June's train of thought, he wasn't that old. "She's my sister, Maureen, but she is so short that she looks younger than she really is."_

_He saw the brief look of relief cross June's face, but it was quickly gone and replaced by the concerned/confused one again. "I don't understand, why haven't you mentioned her before?"_

_The smile slowly slid off of his face as he sat back in the chair. Neal didn't like talking about the past, but June had always been so nice and caring to him, that he didn't want to leave her in the dark about this. With a deep breath Neal began talking, "When Maureen was 12 our parents died in a hostage situation. And at the time I could barely take care of myself, let alone my baby sister. A couple months after the funeral I went out to a friend's and left Maureen home alone. I got back at around 3 and she wasn't there. I waited and about an hour later she comes home, covered in blood. I tried to ask her what happened, but she wouldn't talk." At this point Neal got up and went over to the window. He stared outside, lost in the memory. June watched as he stood stiff as a board and continued. "Without a word, not as much as a glance toward me she went upstairs and locked herself in the bathroom. I heard the shower turn on and waited out in the hall for 45 minutes, before the water finally shut off. Then she comes out and rushes to her room. I tried to catch her, but Maureen was always fast. I always told her it was because she didn't have enough height to slow her down."_

_June smiled at his little memory, but it quickly turned back into a frown as Neal continued on with his story. "I went into the bathroom and her clothes were a pile of ashes in the trashcan. She burned them with a lighter from the medicine cabinet. I give Maureen an hour, before I banged on her door. She didn't answer, so I broke it down and found her gone. No note, no nothing, just a bunch of her stuff missing. About a month later I get a postcard from Toronto, all it said was "Marco." But I knew it was from her, so now it's what we do, whenever we find out where the other is we send a postcard, "Marco Polo." I sent her one last week, but I never expected her to come, she only did that one other time, but met Kate instead and things did not go well." Neal finished taking a deep breath. He had never told anyone that, except Mozzie, but that only because the little guy had found out a lot of it on his own._

_June stood and walked over to Neal. The hug she gave him was a surprise, but he returned it nonetheless. "Thank you for telling me that, Neal. I know it couldn't have been easy for you." June then gave him a motherly kiss on the forehead and headed for the stairs. But she stopped on the bottom stop and turned back. "Try to get some sleep Neal; it won't help for you to obsess over the past."_

_Neal smiled. "Thanks for listening June, good night." She smiled back and wished the same, before continuing up the stairs.

* * *

_

Neal tried not to obsess over it, but he just couldn't help it. His mind kept racing and he wondered for the 100th time, "Why did Maureen come to see him now, after all these years?" Neal wondered at loud.

Outside it was completely empty, except for one lone figure at the end of the street. From studying the person Neal could tell that it was a woman and that she must be drunk, from the way she was swerving on the sidewalk. The woman was heading towards June's. He could tell she was aiming for June's only by the fact that she was on the building's side more often than not.

Quickly pulling on a shirt Neal headed downstairs. Whoever was coming this late at night could not have the best intentions and Neal didn't want her anywhere near June. When he reached the front door, he peeked out the window. The woman was standing out on the sidewalk in front of the building, staring at her hands. After a moment Neal recognized Maureen and threw the door open.

He dashed down the walk and over to her. She was covered in blood and shaking. Maureen looked up at the sudden movement and tried to smile at Neal, but her mouth wouldn't seem to work.

The slight twitch of her mouth worried Neal almost as much as the fact that she was covered in blood. Her hands were stained red, her jeans and shoes drenched in it. But the scariest part was the bloody handprint on her cheek that dropped down along her neck. Gently grabbing Maureen by the elbow Neal tried to lead her inside, but she resisted. "Come on, Maureen. Let's go inside and get you cleaned up."

He tried to get her to move again, but Maureen shook her head and held her ground. "No, June is a nice lady. I don't want to bring my issues in there. Can you take me to agent Burke, please?"

Neal was shocked by her request; Maureen seemed the type to shy away from all law enforcement, like Mozzie. "Are you sure, Reenie? June won't really care about a little blood." He tried to persuade her. Neal was concerned; she didn't look like she should be standing at all.

With a bit of her old strength Maureen semi-glared at her brother. "First, don't call me Reenie, Neal; I'm not a child anymore. Second, do you really think I would ask to go to a feds house, unless it is my only option?" Maureen's expression softened though as she saw the worried look on Neal's face. "Calm down, it's not my blood."

Neal felt some of the tension, he didn't know he had, leave his body when she said that. With a smile he said, "After you then, milady." Maureen rolled her eyes at him, before taking off down the street.

* * *

Elizabeth Burke woke with a start and quickly sat up. She listened carefully and heard the noise that woke her up again. It was an insistent pounding. "Peter?" She asked quietly.

"I hear it too. " He said, answering her unasked question and reaching for his gun. Peter had woken up just after his wife. "Stay her, while I go check it out." Silently Peter got out of bed and out of the room. Elizabeth waited a moment, before pulling on her robe and followed. She was half way down the stairs when Peter reached the door.

Someone was frantically pounding on it. "Who's there?" Peter called, tightly holding his gun by his side.

The pounding stopped. "It's Neal. Open the door, Peter." Neal called back in a very agitated voice.

Peter hurriedly swung the door open, still holding a death grip on his gun. Elizabeth gasped at the sight in front of her and rushed down the stairs. Neal was bent down next to a short, black haired girl, who was covered in blood. She was staring at her blood stained hands and muttering over and over, "Not again."

* * *

Maureen had started the long walk to Peter's in stride. She had wanted to walk, even though Neal said that he could hail a cab. Maureen had just glared at him and kept on walking.

With the way she had been acting anyone passing by would have thought she was just going for a midnight stroll. On the trip to Peter's Maureen had asked Neal to tell her what had happened to make him work for the feds. So Neal told her everything, about Kate, escaping, the deal, Fowler, and the music box.

His tale lasted until they reached the street where Peter and Elizabeth lived. That's when the shock came back. She wasn't tired from the trip; the walk just reminded her of a similar one she had made when she was 12 years old. When they reached the door, Neal loudly knocked, and Maureen fell to the ground muttering. That was when Neal started to pound on the door, his normal calmness gone. It was a slight relief when the door opened and Elizabeth came rushing over.

"Neal, what the hell is going on?" Peter asked exasperated, as he watched Neal pick Maureen up. Neal shook his head and brought Maureen inside. He put her down on the couch, but as soon as he backed away Maureen came back and jumped up.

She looked down at the couch and then turned toward Elizabeth. "I'm sorry for getting blood on you couch, Mrs. Burke. I'm also sorry for the intrusion, but I need to speak with your husband about something important." Maureen finished with an apologetic smile.

Elizabeth smiled back. "No problem at all, I'll go make some coffee." She sent a questioning look towards Neal, before leaving the room.

With her out of the room Peter turned to Neal. "Alright, explain. Why did you bring your blood soaked, wanted sister to my house at 2 in the morning?"

Neal opened his mouth to speak, but Maureen cut in. "I asked him to." She said, turning to face Peter. A dark smile made an appearance on Maureen's face for a moment. "You're the one that shot me. Now were you just firing a warning shot that accidently grazed me, or were you trying to hit me and accidently missed?"

Peter and Neal looked stunned at this sudden change in her personality. Elizabeth coming back into the room saved Peter from answering the question. She turned on the lights and stopped in her tracks when she caught sight of the bloody handprint on Maureen's cheek.

With the new light Maureen looked down and saw all the blood. Her hands started shaking again as memories came flooding back. Elizabeth grabbed her elbow and started to lead her upstairs. "Come on sweetie. Let's go get you cleaned up, and then we all can talk." Peter tried to protest, but quickly shut up at the look Elizabeth sent him.

* * *

5 minutes later Elizabeth was back downstairs and listening as Neal told them what he had told June earlier and also what had happened earlier. "Then we ended up here." Neal finished, turning back towards a stunned Elizabeth and a thinking Peter.

"So you don't know what happened back then, or what happened tonight to make her covered in blood?" Peter asked staring at Neal.

He shook his head no. Just then Maureen cleared her throat from the stairs. "Maybe I can shed some light on what happened." She said walking in and taking a seat on the floor by Neal's knees. All the blood was gone and she looked like a child in a pair of Elizabeth's two sizes too large pajamas.

Maureen played with a loose thread on the carpet as she leaned against Neal's knee and began. "When I was 12, mom and dad were killed by some son of a bitch robbing a convenience store, they were inside. A couple months later Neal went out with some friends and left me home alone. I was bored, so I went over to my friend Stella's. I convinced her to sneak out with me and we went over to the park. It was late when he came, we were just leaving too, because it was cold and I knew that Neal would be home soon. The man was tall and dressed all in black; he had a ski cap on too. Stella and I didn't think much of him, so we just kept on walking. Bu then all of a sudden he pulled out a knife stabbed Stella in the chest and then just kept on walking. He just kept on walking like he never did anything, he didn't look back. I tried to call for help, but everyone was asleep and I didn't want to leave her alone on the sidewalk. It took her a little over a half an hour to die, but after I just stayed with her for awhile, just holding her."

Maureen quickly wiped the tears leaking from her eyes before continuing. "The man didn't hurt me, he barely looked at me. I didn't find out why, till a couple years ago. Stella's dad was a cop and he had killed the man's son in a drug bust when the son attacked him. So the man wanted revenge, he wanted Stella's dad to feel the same pain that he did."

Peter's cell phone rang, breaking the silence that had fallen after Maureen's story. "Hello."

"Hey, boss, sorry about calling so late, but Caffrey's out of his zone." Jones toned from the other end.

"Yeah, I know he's here." Peter replied.

"Alright, also the local cops found a body in and abandoned warehouse at the docks. It was Mina, the Raven decoy."

Peter's eyes widened at the news. "Thanks Jones, see you tomorrow." He said, before hanging up.

"He told you about Mina, didn't he?" Maureen asked staring up at Peter, guilt in her eyes.

Burke nodded. "I need to know exactly what happened at the warehouse tonight, because starting tomorrow Raven becomes our number 1 suspect."

Maureen had to restrain herself from rolling her eyes at the name. it helped her remain under the radar, but it was so annoying. Elizabeth wore a look of confusion, but Neal quickly explained everything to her that had happened in the past 2 days.

When he was finished Maureen told them of her plan on how to get the egg, of how she bailed Mina out of jail, and of what happened at the warehouse. "So either I get him the egg or people start dying." She finished.

"Like you?" Elizabeth asked worried.

Maureen shook her head no and Peter saw her eyes flick worriedly to Neal. "He still needs me to get the egg for him. That's the only reason I'm here and Mina's dead." Maureen spat out viciously.

"So what is your master plan to get out of this one?" Neal asked staring at the back of his sister's head.

She smiled an evil little smile at him, before turning to Peter. "Bury him under the full force of the F.B.I, of course." Peter smiled back at her.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 7

"Will you calm down, Peter. I mean seriously you're acting like we're about to sneak into the White House, which by the way isn't all that hard." Maureen informed him, while sitting in the F.B.I surveillance van.

It was 2 days after Maureen had tried to steal the Winter Egg. Now her, Neal, and a team of F.B.I agents were waiting to take down Maureen's employer. The meeting was set for 3 o' clock in a parking garage near the airport.

It was currently 2:45 and Peter was getting antsy. He was concerned with letting the Caffery siblings going in there alone. Peter tilted his head to the side at Maureen's comment about the White House, but decided to let it slide for the moment.

"Would you like me to run through the plan again?" Neal asked, looking perfectly at ease.

"Yeah, that…" he began, but was cut off by Maureen.

"Time to go." She said while grabbing the black duffle bag by her feet. Neal gave an apologetic smile to Peter, before following his sister out of the van. She was walking at a brisk pace towards the garage. He had to jog to catch up with her. "I hope he didn't see us get out of that van. He is always watching, and is always early." Maureen whispered nervously. Maybe having Neal come along wasn't the best idea ever.

"Everything will be fine." Neal said in a comforting voice as they reached the 3rd floor. "And now we wait."

But the two didn't have to wait that long. A few moments later and Maureen's employer stepped out of the shadows. He was in a security camera's blind spot, while Neal and Maureen were just barely in view. Peter and Jones watched from the van for any sign of distress from the two.

"Hello, Miss Caffrey. It's nice to see you again, and Mr. Caffrey what an unwelcome surprise." The man said in a mocking tone, and then he turned to glare at Maureen. "I thought that I had made it clear you were to come alone."

"Well she was going to, but when I found out that it was you she was dealing with Archer I decided to tag along." Neal said coldly, but he still managed to keep his smile on his face.

"Yes, you see Mr. Archer." Maureen said in the same mocking tone he had been using earlier. "My brother told me all about how you tried to screw him over a few years ago. And I'm afraid that I'll just have to take this fine piece of art elsewhere." She pulled the 1913 Fabergé winter Egg out of the duffle.

Archer stared at it greedily. _This was not __supposed__ to be how it went. That little girl was __supposed __to be so scared that she did whatever he wanted. Caffrey wasn't __supposed__ to be anywhere near here. And that child standing across the parking lot from him was not __supposed__ to be threatening HIM!_ He thought menacingly.

Archer pulled a gun from his lower back. He quickly pointed it at Neal, who put his hands up and backed up a step. That was all Peter needed to bolt out of the van, Jones not far behind.

Maureen stared at the gun as if it had kicked her puppy. "Is that the gun you used to kill Mina?"

"Yes, it is. It's also the same gun I'm going to use to kill the two of you if you don't give me that egg!" Archer said, his voice getting louder with each word.

"Fine, if you want it so bad, you can have it!" Maureen exclaimed, throwing the egg in the air.

Archer tried to catch it, but with the gun in one hand it slipped out of his other. It hit the ground and shattered into thousands of little pieces. With a frustrated growl, he shot Maureen twice in the chest. She fell to the ground as Archer pointed the gun at Neal. "Freeze, put the gun on the ground." Peter ordered, coming into view, Jones right behind him.

As Jones cuffed Archer, Peter walked over to where Neal was frantically ripping open Maureen's shirt to view the bullet-proof vest. 2 rounds were lodged in it, right above her heart.

With a groan Maureen opened her eyes and kicked, hitting Peter in the shin. "You didn't say it would hurt that much." She complained as Neal helped her sit up.

"Your alive aren't you? And Archer over there will be going to prison for a long time." Peter said in a huff.

"You're right, thanks, Peter." Maureen said, jumping up and giving him a hug. Neal had to hold in his laughter at the shocked look on Peter's face as he awkwardly returned the hug.

When she finally let him go, Maureen turned around and gave Neal a hug too. "Mozzie isn't going to be happy that his perfect Winter Egg forgery was shattered into itty bitty pieces." She said staring at the many pieces of glass on the ground.

"No he isn't, but he'll get over it eventually."

Maureen smiled and pulled Neal into a long overdue hug. "Thank you, Neal, I've missed you."

"I've missed you too, Reenie." Neal said. Maureen rolled her eyes at the childhood nickname, but didn't say anything.

**Epilogue**

It had been a week since Archer was arrested and Maureen had fallen off the map again. Peter and Neal were working on a new case when the package arrived at the Bureau. It was addressed to Peter and had no return address.

When he opened the first thing that fell out was something hard, wrapped in a bandana. When Peter opened it he wore a stunned expression and held up the Victoria-Transvaal Diamond.

Neal smiled and grabbed the box. He looked inside and saw something stuck to the side. When he pulled it out his smile widened, it was a postcard from Venice. It was addressed to him and had only one word written, "Polo."

*A/N: Is finished and hopefully now free of any mistakes. Let me know what you think and thanks for reading.


	5. You Don't Think?

*A/N: Ok, this isn't actually part of Hidden Secrets. But I felt the need to write more things with Maureen in it. And I hate it when things aren't canon, so I had to put this on before the new season starts. Let me know what you think please.

**You Don't Think?**

Something felt off as Neal entered his apartment above June's. He looked around and immediately discovered the source of the feeling. If the feminine coat on the couch hadn't given it away, then it would have been the opened roof door. A door that he kept closed while he was at work, and especially while June was out of town.

He made his way towards it, but paused in the doorway. Neal stared out at his sister, who was currently sitting on the ledge drinking a glass of wine. He felt a small smile creep onto his face at the sight if her.

"You going to stand there all night grinning like an idiot, or are you going to come out and say hello?" Maureen asked without turning to face him.

Neal shook his head exasperated and went out into the growing darkness. "Please tell me you just got here."

"I've been here long enough to be on my second glass. Which you should probably take off of me." Maureen said while handing him the glass and wearing a good-natured smile that slipped off when she spoke again. "But that's not what you meant now is it?"

Neal didn't respond at first, just sipped at the wine and stared out into the distance. "Lovely isn't it?"

Maureen sighed and stared back out at New York City. "Yeah, it is. Neal, what did you do?"

He looked at her bewildered and asked in a slight mocking tone. "Me? Why is it that I always had to have done something?"

"Cause the last time you asked me how long I'd been here I was eleven and you were sneaking a girl out of the house at eight on a Sunday morning. Now what happened?"

Neal smiled for a moment. "You have too good of a memory sometimes, Reenie. I ever tell you that?"

"Several times actually, and don't call me Reenie. Now stop avoiding the question and tell me what happened."

With a heavy sigh and a large sip of wine Neal started speaking. He told her about Adler, Sara, Alex, the sub and it's treasure, about the explosion, Peter not trusting him anymore, and finally about the note and key to the storage facility.

Maureen took the wine glass back from Neal and swallowed the remainders of the liquid. "Wow, that's just….wow."

Neal leaned against the ledge, his back to the view. "I know."

"So, Sara, tell me more about her."

He laughed. "Of course in all that you jump straight to my love life."

Maureen laughed too. "I'm your sister, it's what we do. Plus you aren't getting any younger and I want some nieces or nephews to spoil."

"Yoah, can we not have one of those discussions till…never."

Maureen laughed again at the flustered face her brother was sporting. "Another thing that sisters have to do" She said teasingly, but then her face turned serious once again. "No idea who actually stole the treasure and the left it for you?"

"None." Neal said with a furrowed brow.

"Alex Hunter? You said that she was there."

"No, Alex wouldn't leave it all for me."

"Mozzie?"

"No, he would have given me the key in person."

Maureen twirled a lock of hair around her fingers, a sign of her nerves. Something Neal hadn't seen her do since that night at Peter's a few months ago. With a deep breath she spoke again. "You don't think it was Him?"

Neal stared at her a moment, but then his eyes widened when he realized whom she was referring to. "No, it couldn't possibly be Him."

"And you're absolutely sure about that?" Maureen asked skeptically.

He hesitated before answering, "Yes." But the hesitation was all the conformation the Maureen needed to know that he wasn't sure at all. It suddenly became harder for her to breathe. Maureen swung her feet around and jumped onto the safety of the roof. She stumbled a bit and Neal reached out to help steady her.

But Maureen spun around and held onto his elbows as she faced him. "Neal, I know this is asking a lot, but we have to leave. Get out of town, hell out of the country."

Neal stared down at the look of terror on his younger sister's face. He slowly led her inside and sat her gently down on the couch. "Reenie you know that I can't, my anklet. And I have to try and fix things with Peter. If I run now it makes me look guilty." Maureen opened her mouth to speak, but Neal cut her off. "No buts. We don't even know for sure if it is Him."

Maureen humphed and leaned back on the couch, crossing her arms. After a couple minutes of silence she spoke. "Fine, but the hour we find that He is in town, or that it was Him, we're cutting the anklet and running. Deal?"

"Deal." Neal said with a relieved smile.

"Excellent. And I'll be staying in town for a while then."

"You will?" Neal asked perplexed. He was use to his sister always being on the move, never in one place for too long.

"Yeah. You really think that I'd leave you alone if there were even the slightest chance that it is Him? Thanks for all the love. I had better get going it's late." Maureen told him as she grabbed her coat.

"Why don't you stay here? June is out of town, but I'm sure she would just love to get to know you when she gets back." Neal stated as he tried to keep his sister from leaving.

"I would be glad to stay here, but like you said earlier, Peter doesn't trust you like he use to. Which means that he'll be checking up on you more often and we don't need you charged with aiding and abiding." Maureen gave him a grin and a hug. "Don't worry, I'll come visit everyday, I haven't forgotten all about this Sara."

Neal smiled and returned the hug. "I'll hold you to that. And don't you worry, I will keep you safe."

Maureen smiled softly at him and asked him one last question before closing the door. A question that made Neal think, hard. "But who'll keep you safe?"

*A/N: Thanks for reading!


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